Joni eccentricproductions.com.au

The Melbourne Film Festival has been an interesting venue to both view great cinema and meet other like minded individuals.

Wow, I have just completed my Masters degree in Media Production. Kinda Cool.

Is blogging therapy in a world where people are too afraid to speak their minds face to face. People seem to find it easier to send their real thoughts out into cyber land rather than deal with their real feelings to one another. Gosh what a world we live in.

Fiddler On Da Roof

An old high school friend of mine is the lead singer, and driving force behind the punk band Yidcore. A bunch of Jewish boys who were too much make-up and have too many peircings but certainly have a devoted fan following. Anyway, believe it or not me and the lead singer were in Fiddler on the Roof at our local synogogue over 12 years ago. I am sure it was his great experience that led him to re-make the traditional fiddler on the roof into a punk version!!! Everyone song has the origjnal lyrics but the tunes are are up beat. I thought it might be fun to re-collaborate with Bram on the the musical and help him with the music video for one of the songs. He suggested “If I were a rich man”, not to be confused with the Gwen Stephanie adaptation (no I do not like the most Yokish looking girls attempting to sing If I were a rich man)!

What is important to me in this collaboration is that I ensure the piece is representative of the band but with my voice in there somewhere. The band is renound for being controversial, and far be it from me to mess with their image. The truth is I love their controversial image. Althoguth I might look like your typical nice Jewish girl when it comes to my art, I belive in making a statement. I am not as in your face as some, I like to be a little more subtle about my points. And, if one chooses to pay attention to the work I create one will notice I am anything but PC. Consequently, the collaboration is sure to be an excellent adventure.

As for my collaboration on my dating Jewish boys doco, that is still moving ahead. I have not scrapped the idea, I am simply moving slower on the project. I thought I would make this a priority, but still put the other together.

Jewish men In Melbourne

I believe the start of my collaborative project occurred in a truly organic process. My dear friend and I attended a short film night down in St.Kilda. She had wanted to see a short film on dating techniques…or something like that. As two single girls in Melbourne we like to compare our styles with others, and so the film sounded interesting. I am sad however to report that it was not that funny. It had some really good ideas, but lacked the ability to follow through with them. Nonetheless, it got her and I talking about all our little dating experiences and all the weird things that had happened to us in a six-month span.

Okay, this is where a little background information is needed. We are both in our late twenties, university graduates, from non-divorced families and not native Melbournians. Furthermore, nowadays we only date Jewish Men, in keeping with our cultural and religious beliefs. Consequently, what is apparent is that our recent experiences are only representational of Melbourne Jewish Men ranging in age from about 22-32. Some of the stories we have are simply weird and others sad. However, they are all interesting. No, we are not trying to be the new age “Sex In the City” chicks because neither of us gets laid as much they do, but I think this might be a more honest account of a single chicks journey. Besides who knows by the time this thing is finished one of us might actually be married……..you might not think so after you see the film.

Anyway, back to the collaboration element! Once the concept emerged our ideas began to flow.

InformationWeek Weblog-Link

I was recently paroling the many topics associated with Blogging. Although, I have linked this article to the Information WeekWeblog, it is only one example of an ongoing debate.

“Are Bloggers Journalists?”

Should bloggers have the same constitutional rights as journalists?

Its seems that bloggers have come under a lot of controversy as to wether or not they are “journalists”? The definition of a journalist is “Journalist 1) One who keeps a journal or diary.2)
The conductor of a public journal, or one whose business it to write for a public journal; an editorial or other professional writer for a periodical.” Although definition “one” might concur with the argument that a blogger is a journalist, definition “two” would require the individual to be involved in a profession to be a journalist. The dictionary definition, I have used, only seems to support the platform for the argument but does not answer the question.

My blog entry “Internet legislation and its inability to truly govern” , raises some of the issues related to governing the Internet and its content. What I also promulgate is that in the USA, where blogging is currently more widely disseminated “The first amendment of the United States constitution for freedom of speech has caused much delay in Internet legislation”. Consequently, it is apparent that the US will have more difficulty regulating bloggers, regardless of journalist status because they must always uphold the first amendment.

The further I have continued to delve into this raging debate, the more interesting it has become. Nolonger is it simply a question of whether a blogger is a journalist, but greater social questions have been raised. “The question now isn’t whether blogs can be journalism. They can be, sometimes. It isn’t whether bloggers “are” journalists. They apparently are, sometimes. We have to ask different questions now because events have moved the story forward.”( Reference ). Jay Rosen (bio) illustrates to us the shift in journalism that has occurred due to the Internet and such new tools as blogging. Blogging is shifting the balance of power from the news disseminators to the consumers “It does, however, mean that the old political contract between news providers and news consumers will give way to something different, founded on what Curley correctly called a new “balance of power.”” Earnst Miller has promulgated in an article that “Freedom of the Press Belongs to Those Who Own Servers” (Reference), he did however go on to add that freedom would only exist when everyone owned a server. What this emphases to me, is that the press is still owned by a select group. If you have to own a server to be a blogger, to be a journalist, then you are automatically more financially capable than most of the world population.

In a top ten list posted highlighting the advantages created by blogging this was my favourite:

“10.) Journalism traditionally assumes that democracy is what we have, information is what we seek. Whereas in the weblog world, information is what we have—it’s all around us—and democracy is what we seek.”.

Although when I started writing this article I was strongly against blogging being viewed as journalism, the more I delve into the subject the more it appears to me that the question is not relevant. What is relevant is the impact that blogging is having on journalism. Newspapers will now be forced to try new ideas and espouse less bias views. Blogging will start to create a less bias view on newsworthy stories because there will be more opinions. It has long been a known fact that newspapers and journalists are bias. It is almost human nature to not be able to be truly impartial. Consequently, the more views published the more democratic an environment we will be creating.

I entitled this piece “Citizens Journalism”, after a quote I read in “The Nation”. I thought it best described the blog entry. The Nation article goes on to discuss the shift of power from the journalist to the audience. “loss of sovereignty in the press”.

In conclusion, it is apparent that whether a blogger is a journalist or not is irrelevant. What is more important to understand is the “loss of sovereignty in press”. We are moving into an unchartered landscape. The Media has for a long time been able to control the views of nations. With a drastic shift in power from the media to the public this might effect a shift in political power.

I believe we are yet to see the full intensity of the power of the “blog”.

One of the people I most admire is Avi Arad, the current CEO of Marvel Entertainment studios.

I believe Arad had the forsight to change Marvel Studios and make transform it into one of the most powerful studios in the world.

Avi Arad

Well, here I sit at age 27 back in school. I have to be honest I never thought I would do a Masters degree, however nor am I opposed to the idea of continuing my education. I believe we are constantly learning on a daily basis and how we may continue to learn for the present time may be through directed study, private study or simply being aware of our surroundings.

I lived most of my adult life in the United States. I chose to move there immediately after graduating from my first university degree. I moved to Los Angeles with no friends or relatives. In retrospect it was a brave and truly “crazy” move. I applaud my former and younger self for having the courage to make such a move. I wonder if at my current age I would have viewed the move with the same ease.

The experiences I encountered for the next 6 years made me grow and change. I feel as though there is little of my former self, the child that left Australia 6 years ago is a distant memory. Although I am still in my 20’s I often view myself as much older. I feel some of the experiences I have had have forced me to encounter issues and circumstances that many face at a more mature age or never.